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In the first game of the WCC 2012 between Anand and Gelfand, which was drawn, Gelfand had a passed pawn on a6. Could he not have exchanged the major pieces and then tried to win with it?

Why was the passer ignored and the draw accepted?

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Here's a link to the game: chessgames.com/perl/chessgame?gid=1665695 – Tony Ennis May 12 '12 at 13:57
Thanx, I thought it was not working, I had to enable java to make it work. – Binoj Antony May 12 '12 at 15:30

2 Answers

up vote 7 down vote accepted

There's a great analysis of the game here: 2012 FIDE World Chess Championship: Anand vs. Gelfand - Game 1.

According to the video, it is easy for white to get one of his rooks behind that pawn especially when both players are left with 1 rook, 1 bishop each.

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How would White exchange his knight for a bishop? Sounds a little too hypothetical to me ... – Joe Nov 29 '12 at 1:07
@Joe not that White wants to, but the knight is secure on the e4 output and it would be hard for Black to make progress without exchanging it – prusswan Nov 29 '12 at 13:11
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Why? Probably because of subjective pressure of the first game of World Championship match. From what I recall when watching this game - the commentators were also surprised that Gelfand offered/agreed to a draw. His advantage was also not only in the passed pawn (which could e either a strength or a weakness) but also in having two bishops.

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